A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.
Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating – or indoctrinating – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer.
Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement.
The origin of the name "film" comes from the fact that photographic film (also called film stock) has historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photo-play and flick. A common name for film in the United States is movie, while in Europe the term film is preferred. Additional terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the cinema and the movies.
A SHORT HISTORY OF INDIAN FILMS
Cinema is one of 's most vibrant cultural products and a major industry which is as old as Hollywood . It produces around a quarter of the world's films; its 13,000 cinema halls have a daily audience of around 15 million and many of these films are hugely popular overseas. has not one, but several filmic styles which can be distinguished in terms of film-making (methods of production and distribution), the film text (technical and stylistic features, language) and by the film's reception (by the audience and by critics). These styles cover "art" cinema, made in several Indian languages, including English and "commercial" cinemas, also made in several languages. The commercial cinema of Bombay (Mumbai), made in the national language, Hindi has established itself as the national cinema, and although its reference may be national, it shares the key features of melodrama, the use of song and dance, and the operation of a star system with cinema across Bollywood.
The Beginning:
Cinema came to on July 7, 1896 with a screening of the Lumiere Brothers' Cinematograph films in Bombay . Yet the first entirely Indian-made film, Raja Harischandra, (produced and directed by DG Phalke) was released in 1913. Phalke was inspired to make a film about Indian mythology after seeing a film about the life of Christ. His style of film drew on emerging modern "Indian" art forms, chromolithography and photography, religious processions and performances, folk and urban theatre, and foreign cinema. This new hybrid created by Phalke became the norm immediately in three of Indian cinema's popular genres: the mythological, the devotional (films about the lives of saints) and the historical. Other genres, grouped loosely as "social films", set in contemporary , were also established during the silent period.
Indian sound film,ArdeshirIrani’sAlamAra (The light of the world,1931), contains no fewer than a dozen production numbers, setting the pattern for much Indian film production since.Whether the film is a comedy or a drama,musical numbers are regularly inserted through out many Indian films,even if they have little or nothing to do with the film’s narrative. In 1934,Bombay talkies Ltd.,was formed,creating,commercial Indian films on a mass scale,while more thoughtful films,such as Debaki Bose’s chandidas(1932) and seta(1934) and P.D.Barua’sDevdas(1935),tackled social issues. During World War II,the Indian cinema flourished,with its enormous market and enthusiastic audience demanding spectacles and escapism.EDUCATIONAL FILMS
http://www.kidsknowit.com/interactive-educational-movies/index.php
Educational Films is your resource for instructional and critical thinking films suitable for classroom environment and home education. The company was established by Anya Zinoveva, an independent filmmaker.
What is the definition of an educational film? It goes back to the question of media. Motion pictures have several functions: to entertain, to inform, to educate, and to persuade (as it's usually the case with propaganda film). It's natural for motion pictures to combine several functions. While educational films do not deny entertaining aspects, they foremost promote critical thinking.
The definition of educational films goes beyond the category of instructional films, just like "to inform" and "to educate" are related but different verbs. Education may take place in or outside of the classroom environment. On a larger scale, our entire life is about educational and learning process.
Educational films are here to open new horizons, to educate. This site will provide invaluable resource to faculty in colleges, universities and high schools. It's recommended for philosophy, literature, art and critical thinking studies.Science films used as an aid in the educational process, usually in cases where the subject material does not lend itself to treatment in normal classroom conditions. Cinematography makes it possible to slow down rapid processes and make them visible, photograph phenomena invisible to the naked eye, enlarge the tiniest object, transport the viewer to other countries, and make generalizations and abstractions understandable by means of film animation.
Educational films are classified according to the academic discipline involved and its particular methodology, the age of the students viewing the film, the degree of scientific training required of viewers (if the viewers are adults), and the educational goal. The last factor provides a basis for the following further classifications: films used as short reference aids; individual films that explain a specific topic within an academic program; films that help the viewer master production skills (shown on special training stands); instructional films that explain the purpose and significance of production rules; introductory films that familiarize the viewer with fundamental problems, goals, and tasks in an academic discipline; and review films that cover an entire discipline or one subject area within a discipline, used to review material already covered and to single out the most difficult problems to master. A cycle of educational films may be used to cover all the fundamental questions in an academic discipline.
NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL FILMS
THE MOTION PICTURE, from the broad educational point of view, is essentially a multiple method of communication.
It is especially effective as atechnique for telling a story.
It presents facts realistically.
It dramatizes human relations and events.
It arouses emotions.
It transmits attitudes.
It records and reproduces phenomena for scientific study and analysis.
It depicts the imaginative. And it enable one to see the unseen.
By means of the sound motion picture the whole gamut of human experience may be communicated from teacher to learner wherever a learning-teachingsituation exists.
From the viewpoint of lifetime learning the motion picture is not only applicable at all levels of formal education, but also may be used for the communication of ideas, attitudes, and experiences to the masses of people outside the classroom. It has proved its effectiveness in adult education.
| STAGES OF FILMMAKING
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| >Silent viewing activities Silent viewing means turning off the sound on the TV or monitor and making use of the visuals on their own. This is most easily accomplished with the MUTE control (see above). Silent viewing will be a PREDICTION technique when students are viewing for the first time, and a REPRODUCTION technique when they have already seen and heard the section being used for silent viewing. a) Prediction Students can talk about EVENTS ( What's happening on the screen?) or DIALOGUE (What are they saying?) They will be able to predict dialogue, i.e. guess what people are saying, throughout the course. b) Reproduction Reproduction (or ‘retelling’) can also be divided into REPRODUCTION OF DIALOGUE and REPRODUCTION OF EVENTS. Reproduction of dialogue might be most effective where there are useful formulas, fixed expressions and points of intonation or pronunciation. Reproduction of events tends to focus on narrative tenses, and on sequences. c) Random sound down (Close listening) This may be done at any time, but is particularly suitable when viewing the whole episode again. Turn the sound down or mute the sound at random intervals asking students to fill in the missing dialogue. >Sound only activities You can play a section of one of the videos with the picture turned off so that they hear the dialogue but are unable to see the action. This can be done by using the brightness controls on the television, by unplugging the picture connectors (BNC or yellow phono leads, on sets where sound and picture have separate leads) or most simply by placing something in front of the screen, such as a jacket or a sheet of cardboard. Students can be asked either to predict what is happening visually, or to use the dialogue as a memory spur to recall what happened visually. See 'Random Sound Down' above. A parallel activity can also be done by obscuring the picture with card at random intervals. >Freeze framing (still picture) activities Freeze framing means stopping the picture, using the FREEZE FRAME, STILL or PAUSE (II or > I <) control. FRAME ADVANCE or STILL ADVANCE is a very useful control found on some modern machines, moving the still picture forward one frame at a time. It can be used to explore the nuances of an event or of a facial reaction. >Role plays Students can be asked to role play sequences they have seen in any videos. We have found it more interesting to get them to role play things which are NOT seen in the video, but which they can guess from having seen the video. >The video classroom We have found that most video equipment in schools is linked to TV sets or monitors by the simplest method, using the aerial sockets. This is a pity when most modern equipment has either separate video (BNC or YELLOW PHONO) and audio sockets (RED AND WHITE PHONO or DIN), or in much of Europe, a 21 pin SCART connector, or (with Hi-Band machines, such as S-VHS machines) special S-VHS connectors for picture. The use of these connections should almost always bring about a significant improvement in both picture and audio quality, try it! See the manufacturer's handbooks for your equipment. A copy of these should be kept with the equipment in case of problems. Incidentally, the most common difficulty we have found is that many of the latest TV sets revert to Channel 1 when they are switched off, often making it necessary to reselect the video channel. This does not matter when the VCR is connected by means of a SCART connector. Another common irritation is noise, and white lines on the blank screen when the VCR is stopped. This can be eliminated by selecting LINE or AV on the VCR rather than TUNER. There will then be no need to switch the television off between activities. >Precautions You should always pay attention to sight lines in the classroom and ensure that everyone can see the screen well. This may seem stupidly obvious, but the authors have done video demonstrations where someone has complained (always afterwards) that their view was obscured! In many classrooms, reflected sunlight can cause problems. Video equipment should be positioned so as not to expose it to chalk dust. The ink dust from marker pens is less intrusive, but still harmful if the board is right above the video machine. |
SELECTION OF FILMS
The real crucial issue involved in the selection of a film for classroom use is the purpose to be served by the film, however general considerations are:
1. The availability of the film.
2. Mechanical and technical quality of the film.
3. Possibilities of correlating film with the topic being studied.
4. Appropriateness of fil to mental and social maturity of the students.
5. Distinctive contribution to be made by the use of film, e.g. motivation, providing information, culminating activity.
6. Opportunities for follow-up procedures.
ADVANTAGES
The film is a valuable aid to technical training and there are many effective ways of using it.
1. It brings a variety of exciting situations of the outside world into the classroom;
2. The instructors task is lightened by a film, but not eliminated;
3. Expert treatment of a subject, and the results of much skill and time in planning, are made available to the class;
4. The class performance runs reliably form beginning to end, if properly conducted;
5. The film is a means of introducing variety into the instruction.
6. Large classes can be dealt with;
7. Drilling can easily be effected as and when required;
8. The attention of the class can be focused on a small area of interest, by “close-ups and magnification;
9. All the tricks of emphasis known to film-makers, notably animation, can be used to make vivid impressions on the class;
10. It can survey a broad field of study in a short time and can be used to reveal and explain movements vital to the proper understanding of many subjects, through the use of slow motion, and time- lapse techniques.
11. The film is ideally suited motivating people or influencing their outlook.
LIMITATIONS OF FILMSThere are negative points for the film and television media:
· In the absence of interactivity, viewers may merely watch and hear passively.
· If it is shown longer than a few minutes at a time, the viewers can lose their attention.
· The programmes are made for an average learner. In reality there is no ‘average’ learner. Individual differences are not taken into account.
· Television times are fixed; unless planned in advance, it may not result in any benefit.
· There is no control over the viewers. They may not be seated, not fully attentive and not taking notes.
· There is no follow-up of the television broadcasts.
· Distractions due to poor quality of the programme, transmission and reception may result in barriers to learning.
· It is not possible to control the pace of information, both visual and verbal.
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